Hey hey hey – it’s Thursday, June 5, and the clouds might be a little slower to clear around Santa Cruz County, but we’ll still see some at least partly sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s and 70s.
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As Santa Cruz County tightens its belt amid a tough budget process, a pair of mental health residential facilities run by nonprofit Encompass Community Services are on the chopping block, Tania Ortiz and Christopher Neely report. A site in Live Oak has already shut down, and one in Watsonville is at risk of following.
Proposed cuts to California’s Medi-Cal program are behind a lobbying trip dozens of local organizers are making to Sacramento next week, Max Chun reports. They’ll be urging lawmakers to reject proposals by Gov. Gavin Newsom that could further restrict undocumented immigrants’ ability to receive health care.
Jasmin Galvan has a deep dive on the process of restoring Ms. Blue, the iconic blue whale skeleton that has greeted visitors to UC Santa Cruz’s Seymour Marine Discovery Center for a quarter-century. Shrimp putty and 3D-printed recycled plastic are just two pieces of the puzzle.
In Lookout’s Community Voices opinion section, politics columnist Mike Rotkin relays his concerns about the process of turning the downtown Santa Cruz area south of Laurel Street into an entertainment district, writing that it reminds him of an ill-fated plan to make over the neighborhood around the Beach Boardwalk in the late 1990s.
The day’s headlines also include this weekend’s return of the Japanese Cultural Fair, but first, a snapshot from a Lookout community staple:
The first Lookout Trivia Night of the summer took place on Wednesday at Abbott Square in downtown Santa Cruz. Host Wallace Baine welcomed fellow columnist and writer Claudia Sternbach to the stage as a farewell as she embarks for a new life in New York City. Wallace then quizzed her on NYC trivia. After a thrilling three-way tie for first place, the tiebreaker finally went to Claudia’s team, Mental Floss, featuring Ron Sandidge, John Sandidge, John McKinley, Miguel Reyna, Buff McKinley and Claudia. The next Trivia Night event is set for July 2, also at Abbott Square, and you can reserve your spot here.
Encompass closes one mental health site, another at risk as budget cuts loom
Encompass Community Services, Santa Cruz County’s largest nonprofit provider of behavioral mental health residential programs, says its Casa Pacific facility in Watsonville is at risk of closure as a result of funding cuts from the county. The nonprofit has already closed its Live Oak crisis mental health facility for the same reasons. Read the story from Tania Ortiz and Christopher Neely.
The science of saving Ms. Blue: Seymour Center’s 87-foot whale gets an eco-friendly makeover
Scientists at UC Santa Cruz and local entrepreneurs are collaborating on a $350,000 restoration of the Seymour Center’s blue whale skeleton using innovative, eco-friendly techniques like shrimp-shell putty and 3D-printed recycled plastic. More here from Jasmin Galvan.
DAILY DIGEST
Plenty of news this first Thursday in June, but if your thoughts are straying toward the weekend, Lookout has just the thing. Sign up here for recommendations, news and notes from around Santa Cruz County arts & entertainment, coming in mere hours in the form of Wallace Baine’s Weekender newsletter, one of the many offerings you’ll find at that link. Download the Lookout Santa Cruz app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store to take our award-winning local coverage with you on your adventures, and keep up with it all via social media by following Lookout on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads and/or Bluesky.
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A pleasant Thursday to all – hope to see you back here Friday.
Will McCahill